A/N: Hello everyone! It's been too long since I last updated. TOOO LONG! And so, I made myself update everyone one of my in-progress fics in celebration of Christmas. Consider it my Christmas gift to you all! Merry Christmas everyone, and this is just the start of the updates. Actually, this is an oneshot… yaoi, but the pairing is a surprise :P Of course, knowing me, it shouldn't be too hard to predict…

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone. That's… kinda sad… But then again, it's Christmas!

Cloud stared at the blank chalkboard. It was the last period of the day. Study Hall… While he was grateful that he had no actual task to do, he was hating it now. He could practically sense the joy emanating out of the people in the room. It was almost Christmas, and he absolutely hated this time of the year. Cloud was an orphan, and his adopted parents never really seemed to notice him, always preferring to buy themselves fancy gifts. Therefore, Cloud never really felt close to anyone. He had friends, sure, but they celebrated this holiday with their families. His family went off to fancy parties, leaving their adopted son behind. Cloud groaned as he heard more laughing. That was the one sound that he absolutely hated. Why did people laugh?!?! Was there a reason?!? Were they doing it just to irk him?! Were they?!?! There was no reason to laugh for the Strife boy. Yes, very fitting, and it was Cloud's real last name. Instead of taking his adopted parent's names, he kept his real one. He found it more fitting…

"Settle down class!" a teacher, Mrs. Trepe said. She was usually calm and collected, but she was new teacher, and was often at a loss for what to do. "Settle down!" Wait… this was study hall… Why was she here? "You're all probably wondering why I'm here."

"Not really," Axel mumbled.

"Axel, detention," Mrs. Trepe said smoothly, as if she couldn't care less.

"Awww, c'mon Quistis," Axel moaned. "I gotta meet Roxas after school today! He wanted me to go shopping with him or something…"

"Well you'll just have to change your schedule then," Mrs. Trepe said, as she moved her glasses up and down slightly. "And that's double detention for not respecting a teacher. Call me Mrs. Trepe."

"But!-"

"Do I have to make it triple detention, Mr. Flayn?"

"No…" Axel mumbled.

"Good," Mrs. Trepe said, as she smiled slightly. "Now then, before you all leave for the weekend, we will be picking Secret Santas." The class burst into murmurs, and Mrs. Trepe had to clap several times to get their attention once more. "As I was saying, we will be having Secret Santas. Over the next week, you may do anything for you person, as long as it is something nice and productive. Keep everything a secret, and on the final day of school before break, you will reveal yourself to your kid. You will also bring them a present, probably nothing more than $5. Is everyone clear?" No one said anything. "Good," she said, smiling once more. "Now can everyone come up and pick a name?"

Cloud sighed as he came to school on Monday. Today was the final week of school… Yay… Five more days and he was finally out for break. Of course, he had brought something for his so-called "kid." He got Vincent Valentine… It was a good thing he was already friends with Vincent, otherwise he wouldn't no one to get him. Vincent generally kept to himself, but he was on good terms, maybe even enough to be called friends, with Cloud. As Cloud opened his locker, he noticed there was a neatly folded up piece of paper. He reached for it and unfolded it, reading the neatly written message.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed.
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. –Shakespeare

Your Secret Santa

Cloud gulped at the poem. It was a love poem! Was it really for him..? No… It couldn't have been… No one loved him… Cloud closed his locker and ripped the piece of paper into shreds. He dropped the pieces into the garbage can as he ran to his first period. He would never be loved…

Cloud opened his locker the next day, and was shocked to see another piece of paper. On top of it was a piece of chocolate. As Cloud took the piece of chocolate, he opened the letter once again. He popped the chocolate into his mouth and began to read.

You sell yourself out for too much. You are loved. You are loved by me. I didn't know if you liked chocolate, so I just gave you one piece. I hope you enjoy.

Your Secret Santa

Cloud closed his eyes. Why did this person persist? Did someone really like him..? No… It… couldn't possibly be… Who would love him… Cloud never had anything significant about him. Other than his brooding, but if that was suddenly attractive, Cloud didn't know what else was. Cloud sighed as he closed his locker. He didn't even feel in the mood to rip up the letter, instead choosing to dump it in the trash whole.

That wasn't very nice… I worked hard to write that letter out nicely for you. Anyways, I got you a flower this time. Sorry I only got you one. I couldn't fit an entire bouquet in. Tell me, Cloud. Do you know what a red rose means? It means true love. It means romance. Cloud, I…

You Secret Santa

Cloud looked at the letter and then at the rose in his hand. It was… beautiful. It was perfectly opened, and it smelled wonderful. Who was this person..? And was Cloud actually… getting his hopes up? Cloud sighed as this entire thing called school probably just got more complicated. He shut his locker and headed off to his next period.

Cloud opened up his locker only to find another letter, nothing less, nothing more. He opened up the letter rather hastily and read it.

Cloud… I think I love you… I… I hope you love me too… Here, I have something for you…

Your Secret Santa

Cloud looked around. There was nothing else! He sighed as he pulled out his history book for his first period. As he closed his locker, something fell out of his book. It hit the floor with a clink. Cloud bent down to get it, but his eyes widened when he saw it. It was a beautiful pendant made of metal. It was the head of a roaring lion. Cloud thought it looked familiar, but he couldn't place a finger on it. All he could do was stare at the beautiful pendant. Cloud wondered if he should wear it. He tentatively took the pendant, and wrapped the silver chain around his neck. As he struggled to put it on, he didn't notice the presence behind him. He gasped as his hands were moved away and another person's hands took his place. They clipped the chain together and disappeared just as quickly as they had came. Cloud turned around quickly, to see who the person was, but the mysterious figure had already vanished. Cloud looked down at the pendant and back up. He looked around the empty hallway, but he found no one.

Cloud took a breath as he stood before his locker. He was scared that once he opened it and read the letter inside, it would all be a joke. Cloud took one more breath and mustered up all his strength as he slowly opened his locker door… There was no letter inside. Cloud closed his eyes, knowing that it was too good to be true. Out of his pocket, he took the two letters he had from the two prior days and threw them onto the floor. He stepped on them and crushed them up, immediately slamming the door shut and running to first period. He didn't even notice the tears that had started to fall from his eyes.

Cloud had his head down as he brooded. It was the last day of school, and last period once more. Study hall… People were loudly talking and laughing. Their class had decided to have a Christmas Party before school ended for break. However, Cloud wasn't in the mood to party. He was barely in the mood to interact with others. He just wanted to sleep… To sleep forever and never have to wake up in this world…

"Excuse me, class," Leon Leonhart said as he stepped up to the front with Aerith Gainsborough. They were both the co-presidents of the class. No one really knew why Leon's last name was incredibly similar to his first name, and all he ever said was that he changed his first name. "We will finally present our final gifts for Secret Santa."

Aerith nodded. "Yes," she said, "everyone was to bring something for their Secret Santa. If you don't have something, you will be excluded from getting your present. Because we don't have any teachers supervising us, and we would like to keep it that way, please try to keep the noise to a minimum. Now then, could Axel Flayn please present his gift?" And from there, it went on. Nothing significant really went by. It was just gasps and sounds of shocks, plus thank you's and you're the bests'.

Suddenly, Reno Flayn stood up. "Hey everyone!" he said, making sure he got everyone's attention. "Gonna give something to my bro now so…" He put a huge box in front of Axel. "This for you, Axe. Got it specially for you."

"Thanks," Axel said, as he eyed the big present. It was nicely wrapped, and it was very flashy too. "Looks good." He opened the president with a greedy smile on his face, but it soon vanished. The present released a mechanical hand that was holding pie, and it threw it right into Axel's face. Everyone (well, everyone but Cloud and Vincent) was soon laughing at the sight of Axel, his face covered with pie. "REEEEENO!"

"Well, that was fun," Reno said, as he dodged an attack from Axel. "Gotta run!" he yelled as he ran out of the room. He was soon followed by a fuming Axel.

"Well that was certainly interesting…" Aerith said, as she settled down from her own giggles. "How about… Cloud Strife, can you go next?"

Cloud stood up very slowly and walked to where Vincent sat. He put a small wrapped box on the table and stood there, waiting for Vincent to open it. Vincent coolly looked at the box and opened it neatly, not wanting to ruin the wrapping paper one bit. He slowly pulled out a gun, and everyone immediately backed away from him. "Cloud," he said coolly. "Thank you. It will go with the others."

"Just promise you won't kill anyone with it," Cloud said.

"I promise I won't kill anyone in this school with this gun," Vincent said as he put it away. He obviously wasn't going to promise anything else, and Cloud knowing Vincent, that was obviously the best thing he was going to get out of the stoic man. Cloud slowly walked back to his seat.

"Well that was certainly interesting…" Aerith said. She was currently counting her blessings that she was one of those on Vincent's good side. "Well then. Leon, how about you go next?"

Leon shrugged as he walked all the way from the front of the room to the back. He stopped in front of Cloud desk and poked the spiky mane of blonde hair that was currently lying flat down on the desk. Cloud sulkily looked up, but it immediately turned into a shocked face as his lips met another pairs. As Leon withdrew, he gave Cloud a soft genuine smile. "I love you Cloud. And I never want you to be alone again…" Cloud simply stared at Leon, his crystalline blue eyes glistening. He looked on his desk, and on it were the four messages that Leon had sent. The first was taped together because it had been ripped, the second kinda smelled funky, and the third and fourth had been straightened out, but you could clearly see the stamp marks and the creases. Cloud looked back at Leon and hugged him tightly.

"Do you promise..?" Cloud asked, his eyes starting to water.

Leon smiled softly and moved the hair around Cloud's forehead. He kissed it gently. "I promise," he said as several people around the room went, "Awww…"